nukumori
by Alena S. Anigor
Summary: Sometimes, one could find warmth in the most unusual places. /Satoshi x Risa/ oneshot. Reviews are welcome.


Disclaimer: I don't own DNAngel!

--

**_nukumori_**

-by Alena S. Anigor

--

She stared miserably at the numbers and letters in her notebook, together forming horrible, hideous things called equations, the back of her pencil tapping against the wooden desk of the library dully.

She sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging in defeat, her eyes and mind tired already from staring and thinking madly about the possible solutions to her problems. And she had plenty of those – she had spent the last hour or so, sitting in that forsaken library, mulling over the given information and trying to somehow determine what to do next after she had (rather successfully, mind you) written two paragraphs of those letters and numbers...equations, dang it!

She sighed again and glanced out the large window, staring thoughtfully at the pure, white snow falling peacefully, the night creeping up on the town of Azumano slowly. It all looked so pretty and inviting, almost beckoning her to run outside and swirl under the falling flakes of white, letting the snow melt on her tongue...And she was stuck in a library, studying for her math exam. And on top of it all – it was White Day...

She frowned, glancing back at her notebook. She had to admit that she really did suck at math...and she seriously needed to start working on her slipping grades. Heck, even Riku was better than her, and she couldn't allow that!

Besides...she had no one to give the white ribbon to, anyway, with _him_ gone and all... How long had it been now – three, four months?

Her expression turned solemn, chocolate irises staring at the blur of white and black in front of her, her thoughts wandering away from the dreaded assignment for a moment before she sighed again, shaking her head mentally for allowing herself to think about him again...She looked at the equations with a more somber gaze, chewing her lower lip and frowning at her jumbled thoughts that had made her forget all about his instructions.

She let out a soft groan, looking up from her notebook and glancing at the bespectacled, blue-haired boy sitting across from her, a book in his hand, blue eyes skimming over pages casually. She glared at him, envious of his prodigious nature and mind for a moment, before his eyes stopped running over the pages and he looked up at her suddenly, making her stiffen involuntarily.

"Is something wrong, Harada-san?"

She sweatdropped slightly, a nervous smile on her lips as she glanced at the equations again, the tip of her pencil grazing the paper and drawing a thin line over one of the numbers.

"Uhm..."

She didn't have to say anything further because he let his book rest on the desk and leaned in to look at her progress...or the lack of. She blushed lightly at the almost scrutinizing gaze he gave her after he saw just how far she had gotten, shifting a bit in her seat. She expected him to sigh at her exasperatedly or chide her for not paying attention to him when he had been explaining it to her, but he merely shifted a bit closer, taking the pencil from her hand and pointing the tip at the equation.

"You did this right," He said, his smooth baritone a silent whisper in the silence of the library as she stared at her scribbles. "Now, do you remember what comes after this?" He pointed at the empty space, glancing at her, his glasses flashing slightly when they caught the dim light of the lamps over them. She frowned in concentration, staring at the page and biting her lower lip, trying to remember his words from an hour ago.

"Uh, I...Uhm...I put X below and then I..." She started hesitantly, and blinked when he offered her the pencil again which she took gingerly. She leaned down a bit, slowly doing as she remembered him doing it, numbers and letters filling in the empty spaces. After a few moments, when she was done, she blinked at the result and looked at him expectantly, catching him staring at her with an almost satisfied look on his usually, stoic face.

He lifted the workbook, leafing through a few pages until he found what he was looking for. Her heart skipped a beat when he offered her a small smile and nodded; a silent confirmation that the result was correct.

"Yes!" She exclaimed happily, pumping a fist in the air and then quickly clasped her hand over her mouth when a few shushing sounds came from nearby. She sweatdropped and smiled uneasily at her antics but she couldn't help it – she was just so happy that she had finally managed to get something right. Glancing at him, she caught him looking at her, that barely noticeable smile still on his lips. She beamed at him in return; after all, she had a good tutor.

He pointed at the few remaining assignments still left in her notebook, and this time, she tackled them with enthusiasm, leaving him to lean back in his chair and resume reading his book and her pencil to skid over the page effortlessly.

Ten minutes later, they were walking down the spacious halls of the library together, their shoes clinking against the marble floor steadily. She was carrying her notebook in her hands, pressed over her chest, the skirt of her school uniform brushing slightly against the hem of his winter coat. She glanced at him thoughtfully when he wrapped a scarf around his neck, hiding his hands in the depths of his pockets. He really was patient with her, pointing at her mistakes and even telling her of the easier way to solve the equations. She would really have to thank him for being so tolerant and kind to tutor her.

They reached the double doors of the library in silence and he opened them for her, letting her walk out first.

And as soon as she stepped out into the nippy air, she shivered immediately, her jacket not offering her enough protection against the onslaught of the chilly wind that swept past them, tousling her hair as it flew around her. She closed her eyes, standing stiffly in the middle of the street, hugging the notebook closer to her in hopes the cool plastic would offer some kind of warmth to her exposed neck, feeling the moist snowflakes on her face.

Her eyes snapped open the next moment when she felt something warm and soft being wrapped around her neck, blinking through the snow at the taller boy in front of her, adjusting the scarf around her neck gently, slender fingers of an artist brushing against her cheeks when they pulled back, delving into his pockets again. She stared at him in wonder, her cheeks pink; her eyes wide as she touched the scarf, her fingers sliding over the soft, fluffy texture. She exhaled slowly, her breath coming out as a puff of white mist when she thought she saw a glimmer of something..._something_ in his eyes for a brief moment, before he blinked and the glimmer was gone. He was once again, looking at her calmly, levelly, in the way he was looking at the world around him and then he nodded at her.

"Good luck with your exam, Harada-san," He said and she nodded back quickly, clutching the notebook and the scarf to her tightly.

"Ah, yes, thank you," she replied, her voice betraying her confusion and wonder, slightly high pitched. He turned to leave then, his glasses flashing under the light of the streetlamps, snow glistening in his light hair but then he halted when she spoke again, smiling at him gratefully.

"And...Thank you for helping me, Hiwatari-kun."

He gave her a somewhat curious glance before he nodded again and turned around, walking down the street slowly, casually, as if the falling snow and the sharp wind weren't affecting him in the slightest. She was staring after him for a while, until his tall, lean figure had become just a silhouette in the darkness and the sound of his footsteps stopped echoing in her ears.

With a sigh, she turned around and started walking down the street slowly, the snow squeaking and protesting under her feet, her hair billowing behind her. Perhaps, she should call her driver to come and pick her up. She could catch a cold like this and then she would have to miss the exam and she refused to do that now when she finally knew how to solve those blasted equations!

A gust of cold wind blew by again and she huddled deeper into her jacket, the scarf brushing her nose and making her inhale the scent of him – fresh, crisp and gentle at the same time. She stopped walking, her eyes widening slightly when she realized just now that the scarf around her neck was...

"White," she whispered and looked up, her cheeks turning pink, but not from the cold this time.

--

**a/n****:**

This was written for SatoshixRisa LJ community. Now, since I perpetually suck at math, don't ask me about the equations...I improvised! XD

I know I should update _The Remedy_ but my muse has vanished somewhere, leaving me with only tidbits of inspiration I managed to use to write this drabble-ish thing. I hope you like it, though! XD

Oh, and _atsui_ means _warm_ in Japanese. :D

**_Edit_**

I was told that _atsui_ means hot and not warm...But when I browsed through the online dictionary, it said that it could both mean hot and warm...And since the word for warm (_atatakai_) sounded a bit weird, I chose _atsui_ instead...

Also, I was told that White Day is in March – I know that, but the reason why I put snow is because mid-March can still be pretty cold and since it was snowing in Japan in March last year as well as in my country...yeah... XD

And that's it! :D

**_Edit No. 2. Sheesh_**

Uhm, yeah…decided to rename the story from _atsui_ to _nukumori_ which means 'warmth' which was actually, the whole idea behind this story...Just why hadn't I thought of looking up that term before?

I have absolutely no idea. XD

Enjoy!


End file.
